But to the topic at hand:
I’m male and I shave my armpits. Not every day, or even every week, but often enough that I never have more than a few millimeters of hair there. It takes about 40 seconds with a disposable cheap razor (not the one i use for my face). I find it smells a bit less, feels slightly better, and looks a bit less unkempt. This makes me wonder two things:
1.) Why do some women never shave their armpits? It’s easy, fast, and yields - in my view - meaningful benefits. That + the fairly massive social expectancy seems to make a very strong case.
2.) Why do - to my knowledge - almost no men shave their armpits? Is it just that it never occurs to most men, or are there actual reasons?
I’m a non armpit shaving woman. I used to shave my pits, but then I realized that I just didn’t care about keeping them hairless. The resources used weren’t worth the results. I realize that it is only an extra minute in the shower, but considering 3 gpm seems to be a decent low end estimate of water used in the shower, that adds up. Say you shave 3 times a week, which was about what I was doing, that would be nine gallons a week or 468 gallons of water a year. I started shaving when I was ten, so keeping it up for fifty years seems like a reasonable estimate, which would have added up to 23,400 gallons of water just shaving my armpits three times a week throughout my life. Even if you cut the number in math arguing that you have a low flow shower head or didn’t shave three times a week, it’s still a stupendous amount of water.
Plus, factor in the other resources used. I used the same razor for both my legs and my armpits and changed it out about every two weeks. That’s twenty-six razors a year or 1,300 razors during fifty years of shaving. There’s also shaving cream to factor in, but I honestly don’t remember how often a can of that lasted me.
So, I looked at the resources I used and I looked at what I was getting for those resources and it just wasn’t a good trade in my eyes. Since I’ve stopped shaving, I’ve grown used to how I look with body hair. As I mentioned in a similar thread, I’ve shaved twice since I officially stopped and both times I was a bit weirded out by how my pits looked. They looked the same way that they looked when I was eight and I wasn’t comfortable with the look. I’m an adult, why shouldn’t I look like one?
I do find that I sweat a little bit more with unshaven pits, but it doesn’t really bother me. I switched to a stronger antiperspirant and I haven’t put too much thought into it. I still have friends and nobody in my family has mentioned that I smell and my family would definitely let me know if I did.
Oh, man! No shit!? I’d never shave my pits! That fluffy man-fur is part of what defines me as the male of the species. What sort of sissy, girly man would even consider such a spiritual neutering?! Never; no way, no how.
I don’t care to waste my time doing something that provides NO benefit just because of social expectations. I never wear anything that reveals my armpits anyway so society isn’t going to know if I shave them or not. I did not smell any better when I shaved my armpits (hair isn’t smelly, sweat is smelly, and showering and deodorant take care of that), and I felt worse because of the tiny stubbly hairs rubbing against me whenever I moved my arms. I also dislike the sensation of sweat running down the side of my body, which is what happened when I shaved.
If my underarm hair were darker, thicker, or longer than it is then I might feel more inclined to shave it, but as things are it is light, thin, and less than an inch long. It doesn’t bother me at all, and it’s no one else’s business.
FWIW, I have also heard some health concerns about underarm shaving when followed with deodorant. This combination apparently irritates some women’s skin, and some people believe there’s a link to breast cancer. I don’t think there’s any real evidence for the latter, but even if it’s just an urban legend that may have made some women decide to give up shaving their armpits.
I don’t shave anything: mostly it’s because I’m lazy and it doesn’t seem to matter–my husband doesn’t care, and I always wear long pants and at least short sleeves. But it’s also because I am prone to pretty nasty boils in my armpits (or ingrown hairs or something, I don’t know exactly) and shaving tends to make them worse.
Next time you watch and NBA wait till the players shoot, to see who shaves and who doesn’t totally becomes distracting. At the gym the guys with tank tops and muscle shirts generally shave, but then again, people with nothing to show off, generally wear t-shirts.
MissMossie–if it takes you a full minute to shave your pits, then you’re doing something really wrong. Or you have giant armpits. And underarm shaving puts very little wear and tear on a blade, especially compared to leg shaving. You can’t lump the two together if you’re calculating estimated blades used.
I mean, I don’t care if you shave your underarms or not, but your calculations are way off. Saving resources may be one benefit of having sasquatch pits, but the impact will be far less than you’re suggesting.
I think a lot of men have at least started trimming their underarm hair. A little manscaping is generally very welcome, IMHO, especially if a guy is particularly hairy.
But I think it probably doesn’t occur to most men. Sort of like it doesn’t occur to them to buy pants in a size that may be larger than the one they wore in high school.
I’m a woman and I have mine wax, and I agree…it just feels cleaner/less sweaty to remove the hair. I try to do so on a fairly regular basis, like once every two weeks.
Wow–I shave my pits on a daily basis, and it takes–maybe–2 seconds a pit, if that. I’ve been doing it for at least 40 years, and I don’t feel I’ve lost any significant valuable time I could have used otherwise. (I am a girl, btw!)
Ok, this intrigues me, as shaving is something of a chore from my perspective. How the hell do you manage to shave a concave surface in two seconds without getting cut into ribbons?! Do you use an electric razor? Do they make special curved armpit-razors? Inquiring minds want to know!
I shave too, and I agree that a minute is… a little long. I shave every day, or at least every other day, as soon as I feel a little stubbly. It can’t take me more than 3 seconds, just a quick lift and swish.
I keep the razor in the shower, and take the opportunity while soaping to do my pits and facial hair as well - can’t take more than a minute for everything, tops.
Hairiness in males, and a relative lack of hairiness in females is a standard gender characteristic. Exaggerating or fetishizing such a characteristic is both relatively easy to talk people into, and once established such a fashion can be quite stable. I don’t think it’s really any different than male fashion tending to be designed to make their shoulders look wider ( which has been around a long time; consider shoulderboards on military uniforms ). The main difference between this and normal fashion, as I see it, is that by latching onto a characteristic we are wired to associate with the gender in question, it often lasts a lot longer than most fashions.
Shaving is uncomfortable and itchy. You can keep it. I might go so far, in the summer, as to trim my armpit hair with a pair of scissors if I think it liable to be seen - in winter I give it up with relief.
Funnily enough, I don’t mind waxing too much(legs, not pits - yeeowch!) - at least you get a few weeks bang for your buck. Also, waxed legs actually do feel nice, which shaved never do (to me). But it’s been a few years since I’ve really had the time for it.
I don’t think the social thumbscrews are applied so rigorously here as in the USA. So that’s a factor too. But we’re pretty much a no-shaving household in general. Shaving leads to stubble! No thanks.
Yup. Takes just a few seconds per pit. It allows for less bacterial growth and feels nicer to me. I even use an epilator in the warmer months, which is great because then it takes even less time to deal with (same amount of time basically, less often) and you can’t even see the just-below-the-skin dark stubble which seems to otherwise be present right after shaving for me. (And unlike in the “bikini area”, I never have problems with ingrowns from epilating in the armpits.)
Agreed with those who wouldn’t mind at least some “manscaping” from guys in the pit area. Some men are real furry beasts there, and trimming it back looks nicer from my perspective.
I haven’t held a razor in my hand for 44 years. I guess they shaved my chest before installing a pacemaker, but that’s it. Except the barber insists on shaving the back of my neck, but that’s her business. My wife shaves her armpits and legs but I would not care a whit if she didn’t. What barbary!
I have a friend who has a skin condition that gives him pretty bad sores in hairy/sweaty areas. He shaves his junk but doesn’t shave his pits - even though they are painful from the rashes, and he’d feel a lot better if he shaved. He swims with his buddies from time to time and is afraid they’d pick on him for not having armpit hair.
Uh, mine doesn’t. In fact, it’s actually more concave than when my arm is lowered - lifting it just pulls the muscles (ligaments? Tendons? Fuck if I know) on the front and back of my shoulder taut, so there’s a more pronounced hollow in between.
